Posts Tagged ‘milwaukee brewers’

In 2013 Carlos Gomez was with the Milwaukee Brewers. He hit .284 with 24 home runs, 73 RBI’s, 10 triples and 40 stolen bases. He made his first All-Star team won his first Gold Glove and finished 9th in MVP voting. Gomez hit .284 again in 2014 he had 23 home runs and again had 73 RBI’s to go along with 34 stolen bases. He made the All-Star team again and finished 16th in MVP voting. In 2013 the Brewers finished 4th in the NL Central. In 2014 they looked to be a playoff team and led the division for quite a while before faltering and ending up in 3rd place with a record of 82-80. As the 2015 rolled around the Brewers appeared to be a struggling team and there was talk of tearing the team down and rebuilding. Gomez was seen as a great trade piece and the Brewers used him as that. Gomez was sent to the Houston Astros along with pitcher Mike Fiers and cash in exchange for at the time four minor league players; Josh Hader, Brett Phillips, Adrian Houser and Domingo Santana. The Astros where in the pennant race and Gomez looked to be the missing piece in their outfield. Gomez played 41 games for the Astros in the 2014 season. He hit .242 with 4 home runs and 13 RBI’s, but did add 10 steals. Gomez hit a solo home run in the Astros wild card victory over the New York Yankees. Gomez did homer in the ALDS against the Kansas City Royals, but that was one of just three hits Gomez had in the 5 games he played in. Houston lost that series to the eventually World Series champion Royals. Houston looked like they’re rebuild was going well and coming into the 2016 series they where ready to contend and they had a two-time All-Star centerfielder in Gomez for the entire season. Gomez battled some injuries and you have to wonder if his personality just didn’t fit with the Astros. In 85 games with the Astros Gomez was hitting .210 with 5 home runs and 29 RBI’s before being released on August 18th. Since no other team claimed Gomez and the Astros couldn’t find a deal for him after they designated him for assignment he now becomes a free agent and Houston will be on the hook for the rest of his $9 million dollar salary. Is there a playoff contender out there that might take a shot at bringing Gomez in and if they did could he help them?

Let’s see if we can find a new team for Gomez. How about the Miami Marlins. Giancarlo Stanton is out for the season with a Grade 3 hamstring strain. While Gomez could never replace the production Stanton provides he still is a solid defender and can still steal a base. The Marlins are going with Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna and Ichiro Suzuki as their everyday outfield. I love Ichiro, but he is 42 years old and you have to wonder if he can be a productive everyday player. Gomez and Ichiro could make a nice platoon type of situation and then the Marlins would also have a bench piece to turn to late in games.

How about the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers look to be fading in the AL Central race and they need t do something to get their team going. Cameron Maybin is on the DL and they’ve lost infielders Nick Castellanos and Jose Iglesias. Gomez would be an upgrade over the platoon their now using of Tyler Collins and Alex Presley. The Tigers are scrambling to stay in the AL Central race and the $100,000 it would cost them to bring Gomez in could be money well spent if he performs like he did back in Milwaukee.

How about the Texas Rangers. Shim-Soo Choo is lost for the season and the Rangers will have to turn to Delino DeShields, Ryan Rua and Drew Stubbs to fill the void. The Rangers have a solid lead in the AL West, but the addition of a player like Gomez could help come playoff time. Going to a team like the Rangers could give Gomez the time he needs to get back on track without the pressure of a pennant race.

How about the New York Mets. The Mets have one of the worst offenses in baseball. Remember last season they went out and picked up Yoenis Cespedes and that helped them make a playoff run that ended in a World Series lost, but they did get there. Don’t forget the Mets lost Juan Lagares for the season and with Cespedes returning from the DL soon the addition of Gomez could spark the team again.

How about the St. Louis Cardinals. Now this normally isn’t a move the Cardinals would make, but they did just lose outfielder Matt Holiday for at least the remainder of the regular season. Randall Grichuk has been back and forth to Triple-A a few times this season, but has been hot as of late. Gomez is more of a natural centerfielder than Grichuk. Then if Holiday does return for the playoffs Gomez could work into the outfield rotation or be a bat off the bench.

There are 5 possible landing spots for Carlos Gomez, but there could actual be more. Don’t be surprised if teams like the Washington Nationals, Toronto Blue Jays or even the San Francisco Giants kick the tires on Gomez. Whoever Gomez ends up with it will be interesting to see which player they get. Will they get the guy who use to get MVP votes or are they getting the .210 hitter the Astros released.

UFC 202 is tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event on the card is the re-match of Nate Diaz vs. Connor McGregor. Diaz took the first fight between these two on short notice and pulled off the upset by getting McGregor to tap out to a choke hold. McGregor was on top of the world at the time of that loss and will be looking for revenge. Oddly Diaz was so disgruntled with the sport and his contract in 2014; he actually requested a release from the UFC. Now I’m not a huge UFC fan; so I have no idea who’s going to win this fight. What I do wonder is if McGregor picks up the win do we get a third fight between these two? Now if Diaz gets the win tonight you have t start wondering what this will do to McGregor’s standing in the UFC. I’ve seen both guys picked to win this fight and since I’m clueless on this I would just hope for a good fight.

There are four featured undercard bouts on UFC 202. Anthony Johnson vs. Glover Teixeira in a light-weight bout. There are two welterweight fights on the undercard. Donald Cerrone vs. Rick Story and Neil Magny vs. Lorenz Larkin. The fourth fight features bantamweights Cody Garbrandt vs. Takeya Mizugaki.

In the series finale with the Brew Crew, Jake Arrieta takes to the mound searching for his 15th win of the season. He is 1 – 0 against the Brewers seeing them last in April. He takes on Zach Davies who faced the Cubs last on July 23 and took the W.

Today would see another great start at the plate for the Cubs but not so great for Davies as he only goes four innings. In the first inning, he gives up a single to Kris Bryant, then a double to Anthony Rizzo. Bryant scores on Ben Zobrist’s ground out to first. Rizzo scores on Addison Russell’s single to center. The third inning would start with Matt Szczur leading off with a single and then being brought home Byrant’s 29th home run of the season. With two outs and two men on, Wilson Contreras doubles to right bringing in Zo for the fifth run of the day. In the fourth, Szczur leads off with a double and scores on Bryants double. Bryant then scores on Rizzo’s double. The Cubs have earned 7 runs after four innings.

Jake would get through the first three innings with only one walk. In the top of the fourth he would give up two, two out walks then gives up a three run homer to Kirk Nieuwenhuis, his 11th of the year. He gets out of the fourth but after four innings the Cubs are up 7 – 3. Jake gives up two more walks in the fifth inning but retires the next three batters to get out of the inning. He does however give up a leadoff home run to Hernan Perez in the top of the sixth and walks Chris Carter for the second time. He gets the next two outs but then gives up back to back walks to Ramon Flores and Keon Broxton. With the bases loaded, Maddon decides to bring in Spencer Patton who gives up an RBI base on balls to Jonathan Villar but gets out of the inning.

The bottom of the sixth, Craig Counsel decides to bring in Blaine Boyer who gets out of the inning but not before giving up a solo homerun to Kris Bryant for his second of the day and his 30th on the year. The Cubs are now up, 8 – 5. Spencer Patton remains in the game for the seventh and makes it a five pitch inning as does Carlos Torres in the bottom half of the inning.

Patton remains in for the top of the eighth and gives up a leadoff double to Kirk Nieuwenhuis who scores on Ramon Flores’s one out ground out. Patton walks pinch hitter Manny Pina and that would be enough as Justin Grimm enters the game. He gives up a single to Villar but gets Scooter Gennett to ground out to Rizzo to end the inning and we go to the bottom half of the eighth. Corey Knebel joins the game and his first batter is Javier Baez who grabs a single to leadoff. With one out, Matt Szczur walks to bring up Kris Bryant who has two homeruns today. He sends a line drive to left field driving in Baez and going 5 for 5 today picking up his 78th RBI. Rizzo and Zobrist fly out to end the inning.

We go to the top of the ninth with Aroldis Chapman taking to the mound for another save opportunity. He strikes out Ryan Braun for the first out. Hernan Perez next up and he singles. Chapman gets Chris Carter to strike out for out number two. Nieuwenhuis grounds out to end the game giving Chapman his 27th save of the year and the Cubs get their 13th sweep of the season!

The first game of a day night double header and Trevor Cahill gets his first start of the year against the Milwaukee Brewers. Former Cub, Matt Garza gets the nod for the Brew Crew in his first start of the season against his former team.

Cahill goes five solid innings only allowing four base runners on two hits and two walks. He strikes out three batters and gives up no runs. Matt Garza would counters with five full innings also. Garza strikes out two batters and walks three batters. He gives up five hits and that starts in the first inning with a leadoff single to Dexter Fowler. Kris Bryant reaches but forces Fowler out. Anthony Rizzo sends him to third on his single. Garza then loads the bases with his first walk of the game to Ben Zobrist. Addison Russell drives in the first run of the game with a sac fly to left.

Garza scores his second walk in the bottom of the third to Fowler. With one out, Rizzo grabs another single and each runner advances on Zo’s force out. With Russell at the plate, Garza throws a wild pitch and Fowler scores the second run of the game.

In the bottom of the fourth, Chris Coghlan leads off with a double and advances to third on Miguel Montero’s single. Coghlan is able to reach home and scores the third run of the game as Cahill helps himself out with a sac bunt. Dexter walks again but Garza gets out of the inning. Garza has a 1-2-3 ground out fifth and that would be all for him. The Cubs score the fourth run of the game in the eighth after Damien Magnifico walks Zo then hits Russell and let’s both runners advance on a wild pitch and Zo scores on Coghlan’s sac fly.

To finish off the Brew Crew, Mike Montgomery grabs his fourth hold of the year in two innings gives up a hit, a walk and strikes out three. Hector Rondon takes one inning and only walks one and also gets a hold. Joe Smith gets one out in the ninth and walks two but is pulled for Aroldis Chapman who strikes out one and ends the game for his 25th save of the year.

Game 2.

Jason Hammel gets the nod for game 2 as he takes on Chase Anderson. Hammel must have been eating his Sea Salt Chips as he goes seven innings only giving up two hits, three walks and strikes out seven. He has definitely broke his old ways of declining after the All Star break.

Chase Anderson for the Brew Crew leaves the game after two batters with an injury. Jhan Marinez takes over him going 2 & 2/3 innings. He walks three and and gives up four hits but the Cubs only score one run in the third on Kris Bryant’s single to left that brings in David Ross.

Rob Scahill enters the game in the sixth for the Brewers and gives up a leadoff double to Zo who scores on Wilson Contreras line to right. Javier Baez steps in the box and launches his 13th home run of the year putting the Cubs up again by four.

Justin Grimm takes on the eighth and giving up only one hit and strikes out one. Top of the ninth and the Cubs are up by four and Joel Maddon decides to go with Travis Wood. He gets the first out on a bouncer to third. Chapman is up in the pen just in case as Wood gets the second out of the inning. The Cubs have a chance to pull off the first double header shut out sweep as Len and JD brought up but almost as quickly as they said it, Wood gives up a solo home run to left to Hernan Perez. Chris Carter gets a bloop single to to center just out of range for Zo.

That would be it for Wood as Maddon decides to bring in Chapman for the final out but allows Carter to advance on a high fast ball off the back stop. Jake Elmore takes eight pitches and walks. Keon Broxton steps in the box and sends a slow bouncer just out of reach of Chapman halting Bryant from picking it up. Bases Loaded for Maldonado and he gets called out on strikes as Chapman saves both games today not with out making it an exciting ending. Jason Hammel gets his career high 13th win of the season.

Wrapping up the series against the Brew Crew, Jon Lester heads to the mound searching for his 11th win of the season. He will be seeing the Brewers for the first time this season and with the directions both teams are going, this could be a positive for Jon as he takes on Junior Guerra who received a win in May against the Cubs giving up only three runs on five hits but saw Dexter Fowler leading off with a home run.

Lester doesn’t start off great by walking Jonathan Villar, who then steals second and third base and then scores on Hernan Perez’s sac fly to left field. Lester would then give up three singles in a row to Ryan Braun, Jonathan Lucroy and Chris Carter. It would be Carter’s single that gives the Brewers their second run of the game.

The second inning would be peculiar in that Lester strike outs three batters but a passed ball allows Villar to reach first and a wild pitch would allow Braun to reach on their strike outs. He gets out the second and makes it a quick third by retiring all three batters in a row. Despite giving up a walk to Jake Elmore in he bottom of the 4th, he gets caught stealing and strikes out the following two batters almost like it did in the bottom of the 3rd.

Lester would start the 5th off by loading the bases with two walks and a double and that would be enough for Maddon as he brings Justin Grimm into the game and strikes out the first batter he sees for the first out of the inning. Scooter Gennett would send a ground ball to left field adding two runs to the board scoring Bruan and Perez. Grimm does get out of the inning without adding any more runs.

The Cubs would be held to seven base runners through five innings that would not cross home plate. The top of the 6th would see Kris Bryant leading off with a single and advancing to second on a fielding error by Scooter Gennett allowing Anthony Rizzo to reach first base. Ben Zobrist sends a ground ball to right scoring Bryant but that would be all the runs for the Cubs.

The bottom of the 6th would allow us to finally see Joe Nathan since his signing that placed him immediately on the disabled list. He enters the game giving up a a monstrous triple to Jonathan Villar and then walks Hernan Perez who steals second base. He gets his first out by striking out Ryan Braun, then Lucroy and Chris Carter. It started out shaking but he calmed down and took control of the game.

Junior Guerra would get the first batter of the 7th out but gets pulled from the game for Will Smith who gives up a single to Miguel Montero. Matt Szczur reaches first on a fielding error by Jake Elmore at third. Tommy La Stella would send a line drive to right field scoring Montero. The Brewers then decide to intentionally walk Bryant. Rizzo steps to the plate and clears the bases with a three RBI double to center. This prompts the Brewers to change pitchers and bring in Tyler Thornburg. Zo gets a single driving in Rizzo but is caught stealing second in a strike’em out throw’em out with Wilson Comtreras at the plate to end the inning. Cubs 6, Brewers 4.

Travis Wood enters in the bottom of the 7th getting the first out but walks Kirk and gives up a double to Elmore but strikes out Andy Wilkins and gets out of the inning by getting Villar to strike out.

Pedro Strop enters the bottom of the 8th mowing through the heart of the Brewers line up.

Blaine Boyer made it a quick top of the 8th. The top of the 9th would see Szczur leading off with a single but gets caught stealing second. He walks Fowler but Bryant strikes out for the second out of the inning and Rizzo grounds into a force out to end the inning.

Hector Rondon comes into the game for the save opportunity and starts off striking out the first batter, gets the second batter to ground out but gives up a home run to Kirk. Now with one run seperating the two teams Elmore steps into the box. Rondon is able to catch Jake looking to end the game.

Day 2 at Wrigley Field North and John Lackey is searching for his eighth win of the season. His last appearance in May against the Brewers, he only gave up a run on four hits but did not get a decision as the Cubs lost by one in the 13th inning. He’s taking on the 23 year old righty, Zach Davies, who is facing the Cubs for the first time this season sporting a 6-4 record.

Dexter Fowler would not lead off this game with home run. Anthony Rizzo would double but that would be in all the action in the first. Wilson Contreras and Addison Russell would walk in the second but again no runs. Kris Bryant would single in the third but no runs. Davies would retire the next nine Cubs but is still taken out in the top of the 7th after giving uo a leadoff single to Ben Zobrist. After getting Contreras out, Will Smith would replace Davies. After giving up a single to Heyward, Russell would drive in Zo, giving the Cubs their first run of the game.

John Lackey would strike out the first batter but gives up a single to Scooter Gennett but Lackey gets the second out. Jonathan Lucroy would get into a full count after several foul balls and Pat Hughes more or less calling it, Lucroy sends a line drive to left center for a two run home run.

Lackey would add a couple base runners in the second and third but doesn’t earn anymore runs. In the top of the 4th, he would give up a solo home run to Kirk Nieuwenhuis sending Bernie down the slide again. Lackey makes it through the 5th and 6th inning with no issues.

Clayton Richard enters the game in the bottom of the 7th giving up a double to Hernan Perez, then hits Ramon Flores. Maddon would bring Adam Warren in. Jake Elmore would pinch hit for Will Smith sacrifice bunting to push both runners up but Warren gets out of the inning. He would stay in for the 8th, gets two outs but puts Ryan Braun and Lucroy on. Maddon would bring in newly acquired Mike Montgomery who gives up a three run home run to Kirk Nieuwenhuis putting the Brewers up 6-1.

Carlos Torres would come in giving up a single to Zo but would close out the game giving the W to the Brewers. Lackey would be charged with a Loss today putting him at 7 and 7 on the season.

The Cubs head to Milwaukee for the weekend and depending on the whether up there, despite being in a dome, it can be very humid with the roof closed. Let’s hope Jason Hammel has been eating his potato chips with sea salt as he searches for win number 9 against the Brew Crew. Jimmy Nelson is looking for his seventh win of the season and his first in three starts against the Cubs.

Dexter Fowler is back. He gets into a hitters count and launches a lead off home run and he’s back! Scooter Gennett would cause an error allowing Kris Bryant to reach first and would steal second. Wilson Contreras walks but Heyward would ends the inning with a ground out. Cubs up by 1.

Jimmy Nelson loads the bases in the second by throwing the ball away to allow Addison Russell to reach first. He walks Miguel Montero and Jason Hammel reaches on a bunt. With the bases loaded, Fowler is up again this time sends a ground ball to left bringing both Russell and Montero for his third RBI since returning from the DL. Bryant reaches on a fielder’s choice with Hammel out at home. Anthony Rizzo sends a fly ball to center scored as a sac fly as Fowler scores. Cubs 4-0

Jason Hammel flys through the first two innings but gives up a leadoff single to Hernan Perez. Perez ends up at second after Nelson’s sac bunt and steals third with Jonathan Villar at the plate who ends up walking but is picked off to end the inning. Hammel has a quick 4th but not before giving up a one out home run to Ryan Braun. Cubs 4, Brewers 1.

Hammel leads off the 5th by walking Kirk Nieuwenhuis who scores on Perez’s double to left but he gets out of the inning. Hammel starts the 6th off giving up a lead off double to Scooter Gennett. Joel Maddon brings in Carl Edwards, Jr who gets out of the inning quickly. Cubs 4, Brewers 2.

Travis Wood enters the 7th inning getting the first two outs but a throwing error by Montero puts Ramon Flores on to bring in Justin Grimm who strikes out Will Middlebrooks to end the inning.

Nelson would also last only 5 innings. Carlos Torres would enter the game for the Brewers working the 6th and 7th only giving up one hit with two strikeouts. Corey Knebel enters the game in the top of the 8th and leads off with a walk to Contreras. Heyward flys out but Russell singles on an infield ground ball. Montero would drive in Wilson. Tommy La Stella enters the game but goes down swinging.

Pedro strop enters the 8th giving up a two out walk to Ryan Braun but gives up no hits or runs. Despite Folwer’s lead off single in the top of the 9th, the Cubs go down with out adding any more runs. Hector Rondon enters the 9th striking out Chris Carter but walks Jake Elmore. He strikes out Perez and gets Flores to flyout to end the game. Cubs win and Rondon is credited with a Save.

So the rumors started yesterday that the Los Angeles Dodgers are seriously interested in trading Yasiel Puig. We heard these same rumors last season, but Puig is still with the Dodgers. Is this the season the Dodgers deal him? While it seems as though he’s been around longer this is just Puig’s 4th season in the majors and he is just 25 years old. Remember Puig came out of the gate like a sure fire superstar. Puig came in and played 104 games in 2013. He hit .319 with 19 home runs and 42 RBI’s and added 11 stolen bases. There are some people out there who have identified him as the Rookie of the Year, but he actually finished 2nd to Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins. Puig also picked up some MVP votes that season and finished 15th in that voting. In 2014 Puig played 148 games hitting .296 with 16 home runs and 69 RBI’s and making his first All-Star team. He also picked up some MVP votes after that season and finished 19th in the voting. Puig was injured for much of the 2015 season. He played in just 79 games. He hit .255 with 11 home runs and had 38 RBI’s. The Dodgers where hoping a healthy Puig would bounce back t numbers more like his first two seasons, but he hasn’t. In 76 games Puig is hitting .256 with 7 home runs and 32 RBI’s this season. If the Dodgers do find a taker for Puig; which player will they get? Let’s take a look at some landing spots for Puig.

How about the New York Yankees? Take it easy Yankees fans I don’t think you’ll be getting Aroldis Chapman for Puig, but there are some options for these teams to deal. A more likely trade that could happen between these two teams is Puig for Carlos Beltran. Beltran is 39 years old, but is having a good season. He’s hitting .301 with 19 home runs and 58 RBI’s. If Clayton Kershaw’s return is pushed back with his injury the Dodgers are going to have to find a way to stay in contention for a wild card spot and adding some offense might help. Beltran has been able to stay healthy this season and has appeared in 88 games this season for the Yankees. Another plus for the Dodgers is Beltran is in the last year of his contract and with the young outfielders they have in their system he won’t be in the way. Beltran is owed about $8 million for the rest of this season while Puig is under contract for two more years at $7 million apiece. It’s two teams with plenty of money; so swapping salaries shouldn’t be an issue. The Dodgers could get some offensive help to put between Corey Seager and Adrian Gonzalez while the Yankees can get a young outfielder they can build around.

Another possible landing spot for Puig could be the rebuilding Atlanta Braves. It might sound odd to some people as the Braves are on their way to losing 100 plus games this season and possibly next season as well. It would actually give the Braves a chance t look at Puig and decide if he could be part of their rebuilding as his contract was coming to an end after the 2018 season. If so they could try to resign him or if not they could just let him go into free agency. The tough part would be figuring out what the Braves could send back in return. I don’t think the Dodgers would be interested in Nick Markakis. With the Braves rebuilding they’d want to hang on to their young players. Could the Braves out together a package featuring someone like Chase D’Arnaud or Jace Peterson with a pitcher or two thrown in be enough to get the Dodgers to send them Puig. It’s a deal that the Braves need to look into the question will be can they find a player or players that would interest the Dodgers enough to trade them Puig.

Could another rebuilding team like the Milwaukee Brewers be a team that could step up and tried to add Puig. It could be an easy deal if the Dodgers where willing to accept Ryan Braun and what’s left of his contract for Puig. Braun is signed through 2020 with an option for 20121. He’ll receive $20 million next season and in 2018, $19 million in 2019, $17 million in 2020 with a $15 million dollar option for 2021. Braun is 32 years old and it seems as though his power has been in decline. While Braun is still a home run threat he’s not the same player who hit 41 home runs in 2012. In 77 games this season Braun is hitting .313 with 13 home runs and 44 RBI’s. If the Brewers are going to truly rebuild they need to find a way to move Braun’s contract and this could be the answer they’ve been looking for. The issue may be will the Dodgers who have some talented young outfielders be willing to tie themselves down with Braun until 2020. Don’t forget that the Dodgers are going to be paying off Carl Crawford’s contract for the next couple of seasons.

Let’s reach out for one more team here and add the Toronto Blue Jays to the list of teams that could be a good spot for Puig. Jose Batista is injured and in the last year of his contract. Don’t forget that Batista is looking for a big payday at the end of the season and adding Puig could allow the Blue Jays to let Batista walk. Edwin Encarnacion is also in the last year of his contract and has been recruited by David Ortiz to sing with the Boston Red Sox and take over his role with them next season. At 25 Puig along with Devon Travis would be the youngest player on the Blue Jays roster. The difficult part again here is finding someone to send back to Los Angeles in a deal. Ezequiel Carrera has had a solid season for the Blue Jays; so maybe they could add him into a deal with a young pitcher like Drew Hutchinson and a couple of bullpen pieces for Puig. This is the tough part about making a deal. While it looks as though Puig would be a good fit for the Blue Jays and their future it’s difficult to fin the right set of players to send back to the Dodgers to make a deal.

There are four interesting options for Yasiel Puig. Do the Dodgers finally go through with their plan to deal Puig or will he still be there at the end of the season? Remember this is a different front office talking about trading Puig this time; so maybe he ends up being dealt this time. Would you like to see your favorite team acquire Puig? Or do you have a better landing spot than the four I picked for him. If you do let me know.

The first place Cubs are back in the friendly confines to begin a six game home series starting with the last place Milwaukee Brewers. However, with tonight’s starting pitcher’s records, you’d think they were on their respective teams opponents. 1-2 Kyle Hendricks faces 3-1, Jimmy Nelson. Should be interesting for Cubs hitters with Jimmy in, either they’ll strike out several times or knock bombs off him. The wind should be blowing out for another W.

I was wrong by game time, the wind was actually blowing in from right. Well here we go. Hendricks would start off with a 1-2-3 inning but would walk the first batter of the second, Chris Carter. He would end up at third on Kirk Nieuwenhuusdouvle to center. Aaron Hill would send a fly ball to left scoring Carter on a sac fly. That would be the only run Kyle would give up. He’d strike out four walk one and only give up one more hit through five.

Nelson would cruise through four innings with out much damage but it would be the fifth, where he’d lead off Soler with a walk, Russell would single and David Ross would move them over with a sac bunt. Madden would pinch hit for Hendricks. Tommy La Stella would walk, loading the bases. Fowler would send Soler across the plate with a sac fly to center. Heyward would ground out to end the inning.

Adam Warren would cruise through the sixth and seventh inning retire all six batters he faced. In the bottom of the sixth, Bryant would reach on an error and would move over to second on a Ben Zobrist walk. Carlos Torres would come into the game getting Soler to fly out but would give up a triple to center field scoring both Bryant and Zobrist. Cubs up 3-1.

Javier Baez would lead off the bottom of the seventh with a single to center and would be called out trying to steal second. The Cubs would challenge and it would be over turned. Bryant would walk, then Rizzo would double scoring Baez, putting the Cubs up 4-1, giving Adam Warren a chance at the W.

A bunch of changes would happen but basically Pedro Strop would come into the eighth with not his best stuff. He’d walk Aaron Hill and on the next batter throw a wild pitch advancing Hill, who would end up at third on a ground out. He would walk Colin Walsh, setting up pinch hitter Ryan Braun, who would double to right. Strop would make it interesting but would get a strike out before Travis Wood would come in to finish the inning.

Michael Blazek would make it an exciting bottom of the eighth by loading the bases but would ultimately end the inning with out any more runs. Hector Rondon would come into close out the game searching for his fourth save of the season. He would get through the first two batters no problem but would give up a single to Nieuwenhuis but would end the game with a deep pop out to Kris Bryant who was transitioned to left field.

I predicted that Jimmy Nelson would get strikeouts or throw home runs. With the wind blowing in, home runs weren’t in abundance but he did get six K’s in 5 1/3 innings. Hendricks would only go 5 innings with a no decision. Aside from Strops trouble, the Cubs bullpen would finish the Brewers off taking the first game of the series. Tommorow/today, whenever you read this, MLB player of the week and Mr Two-NoHitter Arrieta takes to the rubber, can he make it three???

With all the NFL training camps open you may have already seen a video of two players fighting in practice. Most of the time it’s two big lineman battling it out and no one is getting hurt except for maybe the guy who lands a punch to the other guys helmet. The New York Jets had one of these incidents except it was in their locker room and it will cost them starting quarterback Geno Smith 6-10 weeks. Smith was punched by teammate Ikemefuna Enemkpali in the locker room Tuesday morning and will require surgery to repair the injuries. He hadn’t yet undergone the procedure as of late Tuesday afternoon. Enemkpali an outside linebacker in his second season, was immediately released by the Jets. Smith will be sidelined for the rest of the summer and likely for the first few games of the season. Enemkpali apologized to the team and fans, but really what else was he going to do. It’s an interesting start to Todd Bowles 1st season as Jets head coach. Don’t forget that he already had to deal with defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson being suspended four games by the NFL for violating the league’s substance abuse policy and then was charged with resisting arrest after a high-speed road race in Missouri 12 days later. Richardson could face additional discipline by the league for violation of the personal conduct policy when the legal process plays out. With Smith out it looks like the Jets starting quarterback job will go to veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick. Rookie Bryce Petty would be the best bet to back up Fitzpatrick until Smith returns, but rookie Jake Heaps is also on the Jets roster. Smith hasn’t been the answer at quarterback like the Jets thought he might be when they selected him in the 2nd round with the 39th overall pick of the 2013 NFL draft. Smith started all 16 games as a rookie, but threw 21 interceptions to just 12 touchdowns. Last season Smith started 13 games and played in 14 games. He had 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions last season. In his first two seasons Smith has completed 57.5% of his passes.

So your looking for a front office job in Major League Baseball; well get your resume updated and send it to the Milwaukee Brewers. It was announced yesterday that Doug Melvin will step down after 13 years as Milwaukee’s general manager. Melvin will continue to fill the general manager duties until the team hires a replacement, with Melvin then serving as adviser to the team The Brewers officially launched a search for a new general manager Tuesday with the hiring of executive search firm Korn Ferry. The Brewers are 48-66 and currently in last place in the National League Central. It will be an interesting situation for a new general manager to walk into. The Brewers have 7 players under contract for the 2016; this isn’t counting the players that are still under team control. Sadly though 2 of those 7 players are starting pitchers Matt Garza and Kyle Loshe. The Brewers are a pretty young team as Ryan Braun and Adam Lind are the only two regulars over 30 and they’re both just 31 years old. If the double play combination of Scooter Gennett and Jean Segura can hit major league pitching the Brewers could be set at those two positions for years to come as they are both just 25 years old. If Lohse and Garza could stabilize the back end of the Brewers rotation Milwaukee has 3 young starters in Taylor Jungman, Jimmy Nelson and Wily Peralta who could fill out the top of their rotation. Francisco Rodriquez (K-Rod) can’t close forever, but the Brewers might have their closer in waiting with Michael Blazek. Blazek is 5-2 with an E.R.A. of 2.26 appearing in 44 games covering 55 2/3rd innings. Will Smith and Jeremy Jeffress have been solid out of the bullpen and could become set up men for Blazek. Smith has been more of a situational lefty pitching 41 2/3rd innings in 53 appearances. Smith does have 59 strikeouts and a strikeout per 9 innings rate of 12.7; so he can come in with runners in scoring position and get that big strikeout. The big plus for the Brewers with these pitchers is that Jeffress is the oldest of the group and he’s 27. While it looks like the Brewers have some pieces to work with they still have a long way to go to compete in the NL Central which may actually be the toughest division in baseball. Milwaukee is calling it a reboot not a rebuild; that seems to be the new term as the Detroit Tigers used it when they dealt David Price and Yoenis Cespedes at the trade deadline. How far away are the Brewers from contending in the NL Central?

Is Tristan Thompson threatening the Cleveland Cavaliers or is he trying to hold them hostage? Thompson’s agent Rich Paul has said that his client will leave the Cavaliers following next season if he does not receive the long-term contract offer he desires. Thompson has the option of signing a one-year qualifying offer for $6.8 million; should he do so, he will sign elsewhere next summer. Thompson is seeking a five-year max contract worth around $94 million. Thompson was a sixth man for much of last season, but emerged in the postseason once Kevin Love suffered a season-ending injury. Thompson averaged 8.5 points and and 8.0 rebounds in 26.5 minutes per game in the regular season, but upped his points (9.6), rebounds (10.8) and blocks (1.2) in the playoffs while pulling down incredible 4.4 offensive rebounds per game. He is also Cleveland’s best defensive big man. Signing the qualifying offer as an exit strategy is necessary because Thompson is a restricted free agent and the Cavaliers can match any offer another team sends. Thompson could not be traded this year without his consent if he does sign the qualifying offer. Cleveland has been unwilling to sign Thompson to a long term deal because it will put them well over the salary cap and the team will be looking at a large luxury tax bill. On the other side of this is the fact that Thompson shares and agent with another Cavaliers player by the name of LeBron James. James has came out and said that he’d like the Cavaliers to pay Thompson and get him back into the fold, but James has spent quite a bit of Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert’s money this off season and you have to wonder how much is left for Thompson. Will we see James try and say that he’d consider leaving if the Cavaliers don’t sign Thompson to that 5-year max deal. Maybe if James would pitch in and pay some of the luxury tax for Gilbert he’d be more willing to give Thompson the long term max deal he’s looking for. Is Thompson a must have for the Cavaliers or does the resigning of Kevin Love make Thompson’s threat less veiled.

Thursday night the NFL season kicked off in Seattle. The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks defeated the Green Bay Packers 36-16. It was a tight game going into the 2nd half. Seattle was ahead 17-10 at halftime, but was able to pull away in the second half. The Seahawks added a field goal and a safety in the 3rd quarter while holding Green Bay scoreless to make the score 22-10 after three quarters. While the Packers where able to put up a touchdown in the 4th quarter the Seahawks scored 2 touchdowns to get the score to where it ended 36-16.

The Seahawks were led by quarterback Russell Wilson, running back Marshawn Lynch and wide receiver Percy Harvin, Wilson was 19/28 for 191 yards and 2 touchdowns. Wilson also ran the ball 7 times for 29 yards. Lynch handle the load on the ground for the Seahawks carrying the football 20 timed for 110 yards and scoring twice. Harvin led the Seahawks in receptions with 7 and receiving yards with 59. Ricardo Lockette and Derrick Coleman where the two players Wilson threw his touchdown passes to. On the defensive side the Seahawks had 3 sacks and 1 interception. Cliff Avril, O’Brien Schofield and Michael Bennett where the Seahawks getting sacks. Bennett’s sack led to the Seattle safety which was credited to Tony McDaniel. Byron Maxwell got the interception for Seattle. Bobby Wagner led the team with 14 tackles and Kam Chancellor had 11 tackles. For the Packers Aaron Rodgers was 23/33 for 189 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. James Starks gained the most yards rushing for the Packers. Carrying the ball 7 times for 37 yards. John Kuhn had the Packers rushing touchdown. Jordy Nelson was the Packers leading receiver with 9 catches for 83 yards. Randall Cobb caught the touchdown pass from Rodgers. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix had the Packers only sack of the game while Morgan Burnett and A.J. Hawk where the teams leading tacklers with 8 tackles apiece.

You’ll get our full picks for Week 1 of the NFL season on Sunday’s show, but on every Thursday show will let you know who we’re picking for that night’s game. On the show we all had Seattle winning this game; so going into Sunday’s game we’re all 1-0. This season Schaumburg Stu is joining myself, Mr. Fantasy and Dan the Man in picking the week’s NFL games.

It seemed like at one point in time everyone had expected the St. Louis cardinals to pass the Milwaukee Brewers for 1st place in the National League (N.L.) Central and it finally happened. Milwaukee ended a nine game losing streak last night (Friday) with a 6-2 win over St. Louis. They’re playing a four game series against each other this weekend. St. Louis won Thursday nights game; so the series is 1 game apiece right now. The Brewers are 3 games out of 1st place and really need to win the two remaining games in this series to tighten the division race. Milwaukee does hold 1 of the 3 N.L. wild card spots, but any team would prefer to win the division than go into that one game wild card playoff. Tonight’s game is a 6:10 p.m. (CST) start in Miller Park features Lance Lynn (14-8) on the mound for the Cardinals against Kyle Lohse (12-8) for the Brewers. Lynn is the pitcher St. Louis likes to see on the mound in Milwaukee. Lynn is 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings in nine games; five starts at Milwaukee, including three relief appearances in the 2011 N.L. championship series.
He fanned 11 Brewers while scattering three hits in seven innings of a 4-0 win in his most recent visit to Miller Park on April 14. Lohse is in a six-start stretch in which he’s gone 1-4 with a 6.46 ERA while opponents have batted .322. He was roughed up for seven runs Sunday and pulled with two outs in the sixth of a 15-5 defeat at San Francisco. While there are a couple of other close pennant races these are the only two top teams playing each other this week. The other tight races have the Loa Angeles Dodgers with a 2 game lead in the N.L. West over the San Francisco Giants. The Kansas City Royals also have a 2 game lead over the Detroit Tigers in the American League (A.L.) Central. I mentioned earlier that teams would much, much rather win their division than be a wild card team. Not that a team wouldn’t take a spot in the playoffs as a wild card team, but you’d much rather win your division than go into the winner take all wild card game.

Team USA has moved into the next round of play in the FIBA World Cup. The international basketball tournament is borrowing the name from soccer. Team USA’s average margin of victory is 33.2 Points Per Game (PPG) through its first five games. While I’m not all that interested in this tournament the National Basketball Association (NBA) news that came out was when NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that he believes expanded legalized sports betting in the United States is what he called “inevitable,” and the league is open to participating in it. Silver is the first professional sports commissioner who has come out and address gambling and their league. It’s a change in tune for the NBA, which in 2012 joined the NCAA, NFL, MLB and NHL in suing New Jersey over its efforts to bring legalized sports betting to its casinos and race tracks. The sports leagues, which were joined by the Department of Justice, ultimately prevailed over New Jersey with a majority decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. New Jersey, however, is continuing its pursuit of sports betting. More than $3.6 billion was wagered on sports at Nevada sports books in 2013. The American Gaming Association, citing the National Gambling Impact Study, estimates that as much as $380 billion is wagered illegally in the U.S. annually. I’d be interested to know where the other major sports stand on this topic, but I doubt will hear much from them on gambling. This is a story that I’ll be interested to see play out.